Hello
by Danni-2005
Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together. Book One of the Fallen Series. COMPLETE!
1. Prologue

**__**

Hello

****

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.

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Prologue

Playground school bell rings, again.

The sound echoed loudly through the high school hallway. The bell signaling the beginning of sixth period class sounded its normal ringing tone sounding slightly off pitch. Everyone began moving. Conversations stopped but the noise level remained about the same as lockers were slammed, good-byes were shouted, and footsteps thudded towards their destinations. It was all lost on the dark haired freshman fighting his way towards the front door a note clutched in his hand.

Danny Fenton clawed his way through the sea of upperclassman that blocked the hallway. All his thoughts dwelt on the same thing, an elementary school playground across town. That was Samantha Manson's favorite spot in the world. The town was small and all through the period when Sam's parents and talked of divorce that had become her haven. Sam had always smiled and said everyone needed a place to escape. And according to the note his right hand was clutching that was exactly what the fourteen-year-old goth was looking for.

Danny ran around the corner and pulled himself behind the side of the dumpster outside the cafeteria. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He felt the change instantaneously as his heart and lungs stopped. He lunged off the ground and into the air. Green eyes shone with fear at the thought that he was already to late. Going invisible, Danny put all his energy into flying as fast as he could to Usher Elementary School.

He changed back when he was still about a foot in the air and hit the ground running. Ice blue eyes scanned for the one thing that could make all of this make sense. The freshman spotted his best friends bent form sitting on top of the jungle gym, her back to him. Danny ran over, screaming her name as he ran.

"Sam!" Hunched shoulders tensed but other than that Sam didn't move. "Sam!" She still remained unresponsive. Danny skidded to a halt. He grabbed a bar at about eye level and hoisted himself up towards the top of the dome where Sam was perched. He stopped when he was at eye level with her.

In that moment their eyes finally met. The emptiness in her eyes hit Danny like a wall of ice water. He was prepared for anger, fear, resentment, or pain. Yet the absence of any emotion affected him like nothing he could think of. Swallowing hard, Danny just plunged into the conversation that he had no idea how to have.

"What is this?" He asked shoving the crinkled piece of paper at her pale, alarming blank face.

A smile that didn't reach her eyes curved her lip. "What? You've never seen a suicide note before?" A dark humor tainted her words but still there was no deep emotion behind them.

Blue eyes darkened in fear at how casually she responded. "You…can't be serious…I mean, this is all a joke." Sam broke eye contact, bangs falling into her face making her expression unreadable. "You and Tucker thought up and any moment now he's gonna pop out with his digital camera and—"

"Danny!" The soft, broken voice cut through him as sharp as a knife and with that she looked up. Light lavender eyes that had darkened to amethyst with pain and fear met frightened ice blue ones. Danny felt himself frozen in place by the pain permeating that stare. And with that Sam lifted her forearm so Danny could see.

And nothing at that moment seemed to matter other than the sticky red blood slowly flowing from her wrist, covering her palm and forearm.


	2. Chapter One

**__**

Hello

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.

__

Chapter 1

Rain clouds come to play, again.

Two Weeks Earlier

The two watched as the midnight blue minivan door slammed and Tucker's parents drove away, splashing water towards the curve. His parents had called and said that they would pick him up because of the severe storms coming. It had been sprinkling for a while but right now it was sit; the infamous calm before the storm.

Danny and Sam stood with their backs pressed against Danny's front door. Sam insisted that she didn't want to bother anyone at home with calling for a ride. They stood huddled under the overhang waiting for a break in the rain, each lost in their own thoughts. It was Danny that broke the silence.

"Are you sure you want to walk home in this, Sam? 'Cause I could have my parents take you or something. I mean I'll walk with you—"

Sam cut him off shaking her head. "That would be stupid then you would have to walk home and we'd do this all over again." She smirked at him and Danny was amazed by how much she seemed to light up when she did that. "Thanks, though. It's nice of you to offer."

Danny swallowed. Something about her eyes looked different and it made things seem as if this moment mattered terribly. "I'll really walk you home if you want me to."

Sam smiled and turned her eyes towards the street. "I know. I'm still gonna walk by myself, though."

Danny shrugged. "If that's what you want. I'm just worried."

Sam scoffed and gave her trademark laugh. "What are you talking about? I've walked home a million times."

Danny bit his lower lip and stared into her questioning eyes. "It's just a feeling. I just, oh, I dunno. Could you just call me when you get home, ok?"

Sam gazed into baby blue eyes that held so much concern for her for no reason. She didn't know whether to laugh at him or to put her arm around him and assure him everything was fine. "Will that make you feel better?"

He stopped chewing on his lower lip. "I guess."

Thunder rolled in the distance and they both looked to the darkening sky in the West. "I need to get going, kay?"

"Yeah." He took a shaky breath but seemed to calm down. "Sorry. I guess I'm just being stupid."

She laughed. "Hey, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean their not after you. Right?"

Danny smiled. "Yep. Talk to you later?"

"You bet."

Sam lept off the step and down into the sprinkling rain. "Sam!" She spun around at the sound of his voice. "Think fast." Pure instinct is all that saved Sam from missing the catch. She stared down at the umbrella in her hands.

"Thanks," she waved, opening it as she took of towards home. "I'll give it to you Monday."

Danny turned to open the door and hollered down the street afterwards. "Don't worry about it." He stood in the open doorway and watched her until she turned the corner two blocks West of his house

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sam turned the corner, slipping a little on the wet pavement as she ran. She stumbled for a moment but recovered quickly enough. Lightning arched across the sky in the West followed by the roll of thunder, less distant than Sam would have liked. In that moment the sky opened up and rain hit the ground in torrents.

Sam slowed under the sudden down pour and slowed to a stop. Maybe she would be better off if she just headed back to Danny's. Either way she needed to decide right now. Sam slowed to a stop and shivered in the cooling air. Though it was late May, she wished she had a jacket. The temperature had probably dropped about ten degrees since she left Danny's.

Now she had to decide whether to go home or to Danny's. As Sam considered her options the sight of Danny's scared eyes floated before her. If she went back she would only worry him. He didn't need that, it was just a silly thunderstorm.

Sam started off and after just a few steps, she felt something clamp on to her wrist. She turned and standing behind her was three very intoxicated men. Sam guessed they weren't even twenty-one yet but they reeked of alcohol and smoke. The tall one who had her wrist leered at her. "What's a pretty little thing like you doin' out in a storm," he swallowed, attempting to clear up his slurred speech.

Sam yanked on her arm and the man squeezed tighter. "I'm going somewhere, now. Would you mind letting go of me."

"Now," he staggered as Sam jerked her arm again. "Why would I do a thing like that?"

"Because I asked you to?" Sam tried to put as much authority into her voice as she could, desperately hoping he was drunk enough to believe her.

"Guys?" He turned to his companions still squeezing Sam's wrist so tightly that she swore it would break. "Is it just me or did she just lie to me?"

"I think she did," said the one to his right. He was what Sam could only describe as average. Not tall, not short, medium length brown hair, and brown eyes. He leered at her.

"I don't like being lied to." The one who seemed to be the leader of the little group sneered. "I hate it."

"Let them go?" Sam's voice cracked as reality sank in. She was trapped. She had no way out these guys were going to have there way with her and then probably leave her body in some drainage ditch out by the outskirts of Amity Park. No one would ever know what happened to her. Suddenly Sam felt very sick to her stomach.

"Nope" he said, make a popping sound when he emphasized the 'p'. "I have to make sure they don't lie to me again." He looked her up and down undressing her with his eyes. Sam had never felt more violated in her life. She tried to back up and felt her back hit something. A quick glance revealed that the third member of his little posse had stepped behind her while she wasn't looking.

Sam eyes burned with tears she was trying not to cry. As the one behind her grabbed her shoulders, she did something she hadn't done since she was eight. She prayed. _Oh God, please don't let them do this to me. I know I haven't been that great of a person. But please. Please just let Danny get worried and come after me. Have someone I know drive by. I don't care how you do it just please don't let this happen._

It was a quick prayer but a heartfelt one. A prayer that would go completely unanswered.

**__**

Thanks for reading. And a special thanks to **_soulful-sin_****_, id, style, _****_MysticJunebugs_****_, and _****_Spice of Life_****_ for reviewing. It made my day._**


	3. Chapter Two

**__**

Hello

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.

__

Chapter Two

Has no one told you she's not breathing?

Sam couldn't remember coming home. Well, not really. She remembered being on her knees crying on the corner the monsters had dropped her off at. She remembered coming home to an empty house. But nothing much. She remembered more than she would ever want to about the attack itself. She shuddered and concentrated on making her mind blank.

The voice stayed in the back of her mind though. _You're tainted now._ _No one will ever want you. Not that anyone would have wanted you before but its over now. _Sam tried to ignore the soft taunting voice and rolled over on her side. The key was to not think of anything. She could do that.

Staring back at her was a picture of her in Danny's arms and Tucker acting like a vampire. All three wearing the blue caps and gowns that every eighth grade graduation at Porter Junior High School. The all had the goofiest grins on their faces, eyes sparkling with the promise of a whole new chapter of their lives to conquer. That was a time when their were no ghost to fight, no having to deal with Dash, or being overlooked by Danny and Tucker because of Paulina. Sam choked back a dry sob as she thought back on that day.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Pomp and Circumstance the last strains of pomp and circumstance played as she finally found Danny and Tucker in the hallway. Alexis Young had just finished leaving and they were closing the doors behind them. A small school with a graduating class of forty allowed for you to always be able to find people.

A couple people said things to Sam as she worked her way towards her friends. "We did it, Manson." "Doesn't it feel good to be free, Sam?"

She shouted back little responses. In hindsight she couldn't have remembered what she said. In the grand scheme of things it didn't matter. But she wore the same smile on her face that they all wore. It wasn't high school graduation. Yet in the life of a thirteen-year-old it was just as much of the same. Sam gathered up the smooth material of the gown and kicked of her high-heeled shoes. She ran a finger over where the strap had dug into her right ankle.

"You okay, Sam?" Danny asked. He looked so concerned. Back then a rubbed ankle had been a big deal. They had nothing bigger to worry about. They had been normal.

Sam smiled up at him. "I'm fine. They just don't make high-heels to be comfortable."

"Oh…" Tucker piped in. "Never thought about that. Suddenly I'm glad I'm a guy."

"And you weren't before?" Danny joked as he held out a hand to the still kneeling Sam.

"Oh, my hero," Sam pretended to swoon. She put her had to her head dramatically, being careful not to knock the cap off her head, leaning into the wall.

Danny smirked at her bad acting. "I'll show you hero." He got down on one knee next to her and picked her up princess-style and stood up.

Sam was mortified. "Danny Fenton, put me down!" Her checks flamed. She could feel them burning. Danny laughed and spun her around. Sam's arms went around his neck from pure instinct. "What if you drop me?"

"Your not _that_ heavy." He said obviously trying to get on her nerves with his 'I'm thicker than a board' routine. Sam had to admit he was succeeding.

"Oh gee thanks, Danny. Way to help a girls inferiority complex." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Tucker laughed. "You guys are so strange."

"Us?" Disbelieve shown on Danny's face. "Look who's talking."

Sam, still in Danny's arms, cleared her throat. "Now, Mr.-knight-in-shining-armor, if we are through, I'd like to be on the ground, please."

Danny looked down at his best friend, baby blue eyes alight with amusement. "So I'm your knight-in-shining-armor, huh? What does that make Tucker?"

Sam swallowed, the feelings that look were giving her a little too intense at the moment. "The dragon?" It came out with a quiver belaying her nervousness. If Danny caught it, he didn't let on.

"Yes! Hear that?" Danny grinned at Tucker. "Does that means I get to slay you?"

Tucker smirked right back. "After I eat Sam."

Danny's gaze shifted back to Sam but his words were still aimed at Tucker. "Practicing cannibalism with a vegetarian…That's definitely something different."

Tucker leaned back against the wall crossing his ankles and folding his arms across his chest. "I'm just cool like that."

Danny shifted his grip on Sam, his arms starting to get tired. He set his chin and looked up into no where in a super hero type pose. "I'm afraid as Sam's Knight-in-shining-armor I can't let you do that." He narrated in a deep superhero type voice.

Tucker smirked. "Oh yeah? You and what army?" He dropped into Shrek impersonations again. They had seen the movie probably one hundred times and the guys still laughed at it. Sam thought the whole thing was rather pathetic.

As predicted Danny laughed. As he did so Tucker got up in his face and hissed making the claw-like hands that always went with monster impressions Danny dutifully held Sam away, as if shielding her with himself. They were all so enwrapped in the moment that no one noticed they were being watched until the camera flash.

All three of them gasped in surprise. Danny lost his grip on Sam and she fell to the floor. The moment was shattered and Sam couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret about it.

All three heard an all too familiar laugh. "Look at you three, leaving your adolescent dreams, refusing to conform to standards for your peer group."

"Go away, Jazz," Danny practically threw the words at his sister.

She continued as if she hadn't heard him. "I remember when I was that young."

"You're only two years older than me!"

Her eyes turned to Danny. "Only biologically, psychologically I'm very much your senior."

Danny, as of typical with him, took the immature approach. He pulled his elbows into the side of his body and flailed his forearms around. "Look at me! I'm a psycho older sister," he said in a high falsetto voice.

Sam and Tucker laughed as Jazz walked off in a huff.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Now it was only about a year later. How could so much have changed in so little time? Sam picked up the picture in the silver frame and stared into the happy faces. Tears crept up on the edge of her vision and clung to her eyelashes. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair! How did things like this happen.

Sam had started to believe that maybe there was something between her and Danny. Before his Paulina obsession. Sam stared at the picture. Her happy face seemed to mock her. _You'll never be what he wants. You'll never be the girl he sees in his dreams so stop kidding yourself._ Sam fingers tightened around the picture frame, her knuckles going white. _He's never going to want you. You're tainted. _She began to notice that the corner of the frame was sharper than she thought. Sam took of the black band she usually wore around her wrist and drew the corner across it. A puffy red line appeared. No blood.

__

Look at that, the voice taunted. _You can't even cut yourself right. _Sam lifted her wrist and twisted it. The moonlight shone on her pale skin making the mark look different, yet not worse. _If suicide's a cry for help, you think this could qualify as a peep?_ The voice laughed cruelly.

Sam slammed her wrist down on the bed. The irritated skin throbbed slightly in protest. Sam picked the picture up again, focusing on Danny. For some reason, the smile that had always seemed so happy seemed almost mocking. Sam held it up and felt the sting of tears coming on again.

"You know what, Danny Fenton?" She didn't even try to hide the quiver in her voice. "You're a lousy knight-in-shining-armor." And with that she threw the picture frame at the opposite wall. Sam didn't think she'd ever heard a more satisfying sound than when the glass over that picture broke.

**__**

Hey. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I had fun writing it. Thanks to all my reviewers: Black Mistress, Phoenix-18 days till my b-day, Dragon Blade5, Uncaredfor X3-Nerf, Dragon Blade, Wiggle Lizard, SailorV-Princess, Aeris9919, soulful-sin, ahhelga, Samster The Hamster, Spice of Life, Gijinka Renamon, and MysticJunebugs. Hope to hear from all of you again. :P


	4. Chapter Three

**__**

Hello

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.

__

Chapter Three

Hello.

Life goes on. That's the one thing Sam was becoming painfully aware of. Monday morning dawned gray and humid. The one good thing about the end of May was that work was grinding to a halt. Movies were being watched in four of her six classes. The beautiful thing this meant was that no one expected you to think. Which was exactly what Sam needed.

Lying in bed listening to her alarm clock, Sam thought about the difference two days could make. Friday night had been the worst night of her life. Sam couldn't think of anything overshadowing it, short of Danny or Tucker's death. That night Sam lost her individuality. In that moment she realized she wouldn't think of herself as Sam anymore. She was _the victim._

That's what she would be in every police report, hospital records, or, worse, in the eyes of her friends and family. She couldn't even imagine telling them. She saw her parents forbidding her from walking to Danny's, Tucker not knowing what to say, and Danny's sky blue eyes filled with concern and fear.

No, no one could know. This was her secret. As long as no one knew she was safe. The only thing was part of her wanted someone to know. For some one to tell her it was okay, that it wasn't her fault. But there was no way she was telling anyone. She didn't have the courage to. So she just continued to lie in bed, covered with just a thin sheet having kicked the rest off in the middle of the night. Probably during the nightmare, she pushed the thought away brutally.

It was bad enough that it had to haunt her during her sleep, she didn't need it there during her waking hours too. Finally frustrated with the buzzing, she rolled over onto her stomach and squirmed to the point she could hit the off button. She fell limply on the bed, the silence deafening. And now that it was gone the voice quickly came in it's absence. _Ready to go pretend to be normal._

"I wasn't normal to start with…" Sam muttered under her breath. She swung her legs off the bed and wiggled her toes against the carpet. She couldn't help but notice that the soreness she had felt was going away. Which meant that the shock was wearing off and the mental torture was about to begin. _It's my turn to be your nightmare_, whispered the voice.

Sam focused on making her mind go blank as she got up, walking over to her bookcase and hit the on button on her stereo. It was Linkin Park. She hit the button till it skipped to number six. With a sigh she spun and glared at her closet like she was about to enter a battle. _Let the games begin_ echoed through the back of her mind.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sam trudged up the steps to the front doors of Casper High School. She was wearing the same thing she always wore. Before it had been to be an individual, now it was her shell. No one talked to a goth loser. This was her protection. She shifted so that the books under her arm were balanced on her hip as she grabbed the door with one hand. She walked through the upperclassman hall with Juniors on the one side, seniors on the other.

The normal snippets of Monday conversation floated through the air. Who had gotten arrested, gotten plastered, and who had got what action. Sam felt like she was going to be sick. If this was what maturing was Sam didn't want anything of it. She reached the end of the hall and turned to her left the freshman hall. While there was still some of the same, it was much more who saw what movie, who bought what CD, and who had gotten grounded for what.

She wandered over to Danny's locker. Sam felt like she was going to cry. Him and Tucker were arguing about some new gadget he had gotten and whether it was the 'shiznit' or not. She felt like telling them that no one had used that word since at least seventh grade. How could everything feel so normal when everything had changed?

Danny was the first one to notice her. She almost smiled at the way his face lit up when he saw her. "Sam!" Tucker turned at her name and waved and flashed her a grin. She smiled back, forcing it. It felt so fake she was amazed that they didn't pick up on it then and there.

Danny grabbed her by the arm and practically drug her over to his locker. "Sam, did you figure out Critical Thinking on the Bio worksheet?"

Sam locked up. "There was a bio assignment?" Danny and Tucker both stared at her as if she was mutating. Sam always knew what the assignment was. She was the one the two of them were always calling at nine o'clock on Sunday night to make sure they had done everything.

"Yeah, chapter review. Last one of the year. You didn't do it, then?"

Sam felt like screaming. "Of course I did it," sarcasm dripped from her voice. "I do homework I don't know about all the time."

Danny looked like he'd been smacked but Tucker was almost never at a loss for what to say. "I'm sure it won't hurt your average. This is the first one you missed, right?"

"I think so…"

"Then don't worry 'bout it." _Look at them. Your world is falling apart and their worried about your bio grade. _Sam felt betrayed for a fraction of an instant. They don't know, she reminded herself firmly. Part of her wanted them to know. To entrust Danny and Tucker with her secret, like Danny had done with them.

The 8:12 bell rang. "Gotta get to get to español, mi amigos. Adios." Tucker took off down the hall towards the foreign language and lit classes. Danny stood there with Sam for a moment. Both of them had history first. Danny turned and stared into Sam's eyes as if looking for some secret.

Please figure it out, Sam thought desperately. I can't go through this by myself, and there's no way that I can tell you. _He's not that bright, _he doesn't care enough to notice. "Sam…" he started. Her breathe caught. This is it. He's going to figure it out he's going to know something's wrong. I look terrible. I haven't called for two days. I missed the last bio assignment of the year. Even Danny's not this dense.

"We need to get to class," He said. With that he turned around, picked up his book bag, and kicked his locker shut. No! Sam screamed mentally. You're my best friend. We've been best friends since kindergarten. You know me better than this.

__

He obviously doesn't, the voice sneered. _If he did than he would ask what was wrong, you two would skip first period and he would listened as you poured your heart out too him_. _Apparently you've over estimated him._

It hurt. The fact that Danny wasn't noticing was really bothering her. She had looked like death warmed over in the mirror this morning. There was no way you couldn't tell.

__

Maybe he just doesn't care. No, that couldn't be it. It just couldn't be. _Keep telling yourself that._

She watched horrified as he spun his lock so no one could open it. He turned and saw the weird look on her face. "What's up?"

Sam felt it all melt in this moment. He didn't know. He was confused. He didn't know something was wrong. Sam focused on making her mind blank as she stared at Danny, her face melding into an impartial mask. "Nothing," she whispered.

Danny stared at a moment looking torn. He suddenly just nodded and turned. "Come on. We're gonna be tardy."

Sam followed mindlessly. The only thing she was aware of at that moment was the scornfully laughter echoing through her mind.

**__**

Sorry that took so long to put out. I want to, as always thank my reviewers: ahhelga, Spice Of Life, Not Important, RainbowSerenity, Dragon Blade5, radioactive care bears in the freezer, Red Jack Malicious, Samster The Hamster, Aeris9919, and MysticJunebugs. P.S. Tommorow is my seventeenth birthday. Yay, me!


	5. Chapter Four

**_Hello _**

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together. 

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does. 

Chapter Four 

I'm your mind giving you someone to talk to. 

Even when Sam was little, she had been big on comforting type stuff, like comfort foods or baby blankets or sucking your thumb. She had been the little girl who was always trying to grow up. She had never been one who had curled up on her mom's lap or snuggled into her dad's shoulder. Perhaps that's why she was struggling with it now. 

She sat with all the pillows piled up against her headboard and hugging her knees. She hadn't told them. She had kept telling herself all day that they would, but she had been lying. And deep down part of her knew that. She had even taken the guys out for ice cream after school. They had laughed, joked, and played around. Sam had kept telling herself she should feel better. It was normal. Things wouldn't change. That's what she wanted right to feel normal again. 

Yet all it had done is made her feel more alone. She wasn't part of it. They could live their lives without her. Sam didn't know what hurt more, what had happened or what was happening. Somehow, this felt so much worse. They didn't need her. No one needed her.

She choked back a dry sob and tried not to cry again. She had done far too much of that over the past three days. It wasn't going to help at all. She closed her eyes and tried to fight the burning sensation that came along with it. She tried to take deep breathes. She hugged her legs to her tighter and rolled over on her side, little silent sobs wracking her shoulders. And with that Sam cried herself to sleep, completely oblivious to the invisible presence.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

To say that Danny was concerned would have been an understatement. She had been acting weird all day. To tell the truth Danny had blown it off as one of those bad-time-of-month, look-at-me-I'm-hormonal things. He had an older sister, so he'd had to endure plenty of those. It wasn't until they'd gone out for ice cream that he'd seriously thought anything of it. 

He and Tucker had been jokingly arguing about whether Tucker could be quiet if he wanted to. He had turned to Sam for input and saw her staring of into space. Strange, Sam was always the alert one of the group. The thing that bothered him most was that her eyes were filled with water and she looked as if she was reliving some nightmare but had no choice but to endure it. 

"Sam?" He reached out and waved a hand in front of his face. Startled, Sam suddenly cringed visibly. Danny stared at her in disbelief. "What was that?" 

Sam stared at him a muted fear playing across her features. "What was what?"

"I just waved at you and you looked like I was going to hit you."

Sam looked guilty but was obviously trying to hide it. "I did not."

Tucker leaned across the table to look at them. "Um…Yeah, Sam, you really did."

With tucker leaning towards her and Danny sitting on the outside of the booth Sam suddenly looked like a trapped rabbit.

"I—I've got to go…" she grabbed at her milkshake as Tucker and Danny exchanged a discrete glance. Something was most definitely wrong.

"Sam, I thought you said you didn't have to be home till five. It's only 4:10." Tucker couldn't help but comment.

"Something came up."

"Stop joking around. You know your parents wont notice if you're not home yet." Tucker opened his mouth to say more when Danny finally caught his eye and let the subject drop.

"Go ahead and go if you need to. Call me later. Since we don't have any homework, I figured we could do something tomorrow." Danny suggested.

"Maybe," Sam said nonchalantly as she grabbed one of her books off the table. Danny slid out of the bench and let her scoot out.

Danny watched her walk quickly out without a backward glance. "What's with her?" Tucker asked, clearly puzzled.

"I think something's majorly wrong with Sam. Did you see the way she flinched?" Danny questioned. He sighed and plopped back on to the cheep vinyl bench.

"Yeah." Tucker fiddled with the wrapper of the straw for Sam's milkshake. He glanced up at Danny. "Weird, isn't it." It came out more as a statement than a question. "Danny, she's not afraid of us, right."

"I don't think it's us." Danny paused for a moment. "But something's definitely wrong. Maybe it's somebody at school…"

"If you're thinking of Dash--"

"Of course, I'm thinking of Dash, Tucker. I mean he's the one who instantly pops into my mind. He's probably doing this to get to me and Sam, being Sam, isn't planning on telling me."

Tucker bit his lower lip. "Oh, man. I dunno."

"Look, just do me a favor and help me keep an eye on Dash." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

Tucker sighed, his shoulders dropping. "Alright, if you think that's it."

But lying on bed watching TV that night, Danny began to second-guess himself. He continued to mull it over until he decided that maybe the best plan of action would be to go ask Sam. With that, Danny went ghost. He shuddered as the customary cold came back over him yet again. It wasn't a pleasant sensation, almost like being covered with cobwebs and having his insides frozen.

With a quick lock of his door, Danny phased through the window and flew the eleven blocks to Sam's house. The sight that greeted him was almost too much for Danny. There laid Sam curled up in a fetal position quietly sobbing to herself. Danny found himself drawn to her.

He knelt down next to her, her face only about eight inches from his own. He felt her warm breath on his frozen check. The pretty, pale face was red and blotchy. Her eyes squeezed shut yet they still looked puffy and swollen.

Danny sat there and watched her for so long that time lost all relevance. He barely noticed when her breathing changed from shallow gasp, to a more deep regular pattern. "I'm sorry," he breathed. "God, Sam, I'm so sorry." The tears welled up as he reached out and brushed her bangs to the side. She wimpered in her sleep and Danny felt rage directed at the one responsible.

"I swear I'll make him pay." Danny took a shaky breath, trying to get his emotions back under control. "I promise, Sam, Dash won't get away with this."

****

Hey, another chapter finished. Yay. And I'm seventeen now. Which means I'm going to try to be more regular with updates. Though I think this is the best I've ever followed through with a story. I've already thought up a sequel. Thanks, as always, to all my reviewers: strawberry wine, RainbowSerenity, Brittany Miller, Emprezz Andromeda, style, RavenForever, q.t, aeris9919, Spice of Life, MysticJunebugs, kira, Piezo, id, and Samster The Hamster. As always can't wait to hear from you again.


	6. Chapter Five

**__**

Hello

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.

__

Chapter Five

Hello.

Danny was lucky he hadn't fallen asleep flying home. He had sat there for what seemed like an eternity and yet a moment, just watching her sleep. He had always heard that people looked peaceful in their sleep. If that was true, it didn't apply to Sam. He sighed, but then again, so many things didn't.

She had tossed and turned, whimpered and moaned. Danny had never seen a person look so miserable. He had just sat there, feeling more helpless than he ever had in his life. Sam continued to lie there writhing in pain, reaching out to someone who she didn't know was there. Occasionally he would reach out and grasp her small hand in his. She would freeze for a moment and Danny would rub his thumb across her knuckles. She would seem to tense for a moment and then pull her hand away.

But now, he was thoroughly exhausted yet sleep was not going to come. He lay on his bed, reliving it all in his head. How could Dash do this to her? He'd always known that the football player was a creep but this made no sense to him. Sam hadn't hurt any one. Of course he'd never done anything to Dash, but that didn't seem to matter on bit to Dash.

And why hadn't Sam told him? Part of him whispered that he could have asked Sam, which he still hadn't done. But he could have done something. He could've made sure that Dash was never around her. Or stuck with her so he could be the one who was picked on. There were so many things he could have done. He rolled over onto his side. Some super hero he was turning out to be.

He sighed and closed his eyes. Sam knew she could talk to him about anything so why wasn't she? Maybe it was a girl thing. Jazz had always mentioned that maybe Sam needed to hang out with other people so that she had a girl to talk to about more personal stuff. Danny had always laughed and said 'Sam can talk to us about everything, she knows that.'

Maybe, just maybe, Jazz had been right.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Danny pounded harder against the door. "Jazz, if you don't get out of the bathroom, I'm gonna be late!"

Danny mouthed "One Second." as his sister shouted it out at him.

"Seriously, Jazz, I have got to take a shower!" He went back to pounding on the door with every syllable. "I am going to be so incredibly late and Lancer's going to give me a tardy which means I have three which means I'll have detention!"

"Go use Mom and Dad's bathroom," came the muffled reply.

"Because the point of having a bathroom next to my room is so I can use it! Now, get out!" He growled under his breath as he heard the hair dryer come on.

"Fine!" He stormed back to his room mumbling incoherently under his breath. "I thought about taking a shower last night." He slammed his bedroom door behind him. "I thought 'Yes, Danny, this is the perfect idea.'" He yanked open his closet and pulled his normal shirt off the hanger. "There is never any hot water in the morning anyway." He yanked a pair of jeans of a shelf in his closet. Throwing it on his bed he proceeded to dig through his sock drawer trying to find a matching pair. "Then the box ghost decides to invite himself out to the normal world. Does any one want him here? Noooooooo."

He turned around waving both socks in the air to emphasize his point. "I am the box ghost. Beware!" And standing in his doorway, staring at him like he was absolutely insane, was a very concerned Jazz. "What do you want?" It was the first thing that had popped into his head and probably one of the stupidest things he could have said.

She arched an eyebrow. "The bathrooms free." With a quick turn, she was gone. Danny suddenly felt like pounding his head into a wall. He glanced at the clock and bit back the urge to swear. 7:48. Even if the bathroom was free it didn't matter the bus would be here in about four minutes. He threw everything on and darted toward the stairs. "MOM! Have you seen my shoes?"

"Did you try the living room, yet? I thought I saw them next to the couch."

That was good enough for Danny. Yep there was one of them. He slid his foot in not bothering to untie it. Now, he thought, to find the other. He hopped onto the couch and looked behind it. Nope. He fell onto his side and pulled up the bottom of the fabric and peeking at him from the farthest corner was his left shoe.

"Oh no." He jumped to the floor and fished for it. Predictably, it was about two and a half inches out of reach. He grabbed the remote of the couch and fished for it again. He managed to shove it further out of reach. He adjusted his grip on the remote further down. And managed to hit the shoe too hard and lose his grip on the shoe.

"Yes, today is definitely going to be a good day," he bit out, practically seething. He glanced towards the kitchen. He was in direct line of vision from his dad, no going ghost for this one. He concentrated for a moment on making his shoulder go intangible. Shoving his shoulder into the couch, he managed to grab both, shoving them towards the front.

He yanked the shoe on while throwing the remote back on the couch. "I'm leaving to catch the bus!"

His mother poked her head out of the kitchen. "Danny, what about breakfast?" She watched as he jogged over to the closet and yanked out his book bag.

"I'll buy something out of the machines or mooch a granola bar off Sam. She always has something."

"Have fun, Son." His dad hollered.

Danny muttered under his breath. "If the mornings gone this well, I'm sure I will."

**__**

Hey, I know it doesn't go much of anywhere but it's going to be more serious from now on so I felt I needed one more light hearted chapter. Sorry, if I'm disappointing anyone, let me know. As always, huge thanks to all my reviewers: morgannia, style, Brittany Miller, RainbowSerenity, Piezo , Nightmare123, Phoenix-lucky number 13, babybeluga2003, Spice of Life, saikyo:the youkai priestess, Dela the Hidden, q.t, and Aeris9919. As always, thanks a ton!


	7. Chapter Six

**__**

Hello

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.

__

Chapter Six

If I smile and don't believe.

Danny shrugged his bag further onto his shoulder as the bus slowed to a halt and the doors wheezed open. He walked onto the bus and put his hands on the back of every sit as leverage fighting past all the kids in the aisle. He did this till he reached the fifth seat on the left, the one he and Sam always shared. Tucker lived three streets too far over to be on their route.

The bus started again and rattled off towards fifth where they would pick up Jeff Thompson, Kalli and Jenna MacIntyre, and finally Sam. Danny stared at the back of the seat in front of him. When he and Sam were little they would always try to find things in the torn written on seat vinyl. Animals, food, faces, TV characters, anything you thought you saw you pointed out to the other. Danny had no idea why that had suddenly popped into his head. He reached forward and traced what vaguely looked like a bunny and stared out the window.

They stopped once again and Jeff got on. He was one of Dash's friends. Danny silently seethed for a moment as he heard Jeff shout something to some girl at the back of the bus. Danny glared bullets at him as he passed Jeff didn't even notice. Danny let his head fall back against the pane of glass.

He had stayed up late last night and come up with numerous painful ways in which he could kill the monster. Danny was proud of himself. Out of the twenty, only three involved his powers. No offense to his alter ego, but he wanted it to be Danny Fenton that made Dash suffer, not Danny Phantom.

Danny did realize though as much as he would like at the moment to watch Dash bleed to death and beg for mercy that it wasn't possible. His best hope was jamming Dash's head into something until he couldn't remember his own name. Danny smiled at the thought of Dash sitting in a corner drooling on himself. But he was going to put a stop to this that much he swore.

He was so deep in thought about it that he totally missed the MacIntyre's stop and Sam's. He didn't notice it till he felt the weight in the seat shift. He whirled around and saw Sam move his bag from the seat to the floor. As she dropped into the seat next to him, Danny noticed Sam looked pale.

Sam was naturally a fair-complected person but this morning she loocked down right ghostly. Her skin had unnatural pallor to it and dark rings made her eyes appear haunted. Her face looked blank and she looked like she hadn't ate or slept in days. "God, Sam, you look horrible!"

Sam didn't even look up. "Hello to you too." It came out sounding harsh, her bitter tone piercing.

Danny didn't know what to say. I mean sure it's not exactly what a girl wants to hear but normally Sam would have laughed it off and told him he was no prize himself. "What's wrong?"

She looked at him for a moment staring into his eyes, as if searching for the answer she needed. "Nothing." She said. It was a knee-jerk reaction and they both knew it.

"Sam, that's crap! And you know it." He bit out. Sam didn't move she stared straight ahead not even acknowledging that she had heard him. Danny began to get annoyed. "Look at me, Sam." The vacant look never wavered and her head never turned. "I know that you're was entitled to your privacy but this is way beyond that. If something's wrong enough to through you through a loop like this I have a right to know! I'm your best friend, doesn't that mean something to you?" She still stared at the seat. Danny could feel himself getting angrier at her by the moment. "Of course, we know that means nothing to you."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he wished he had never even thought them. Sam turned on him and he could see the pain and fury in her eyes. "I can't believe you. You've put me through hell trying to keep your secret! Do you have any idea what it's like to sit by every night and watch your best friend put himself in mortal danger? Of course not, that's my arena. Every time you've needed me, Danny. I've been their for you, every freaking time since we were four! Now the one time I need you, you try and tell me this friendship means nothing to you?" Sam was crying now and most the kids next to them were doing a poor job of pretending they weren't listening.

"Sam, that's not what I mean—"

The bus screeched to a stop at Casper High School and Sam grabbed her book of the seat. "You know what, Danny? I think you've made it abundantly clear what you mean. So, just leave well enough alone."

Sam shouldered her way to the front of the line. He tried to get up and follow but managed to find himself shoved repeatedly back into his seat by upperclassman trying to get off. By the time he got off he knew that there was no way he was going to find Sam. He felt the guilt close up his throat and didn't even bother fighting it. He deserved it all.

Sam didn't know where she was going she just knew that she had to get away from Danny. She was completely distraught. There was nothing anyone could say that would make her feel better. The only constant in her life had now just turned on her. And all Sam could do was watch helplessly as the bottom fell out of her world.

**__**

Now we're getting somewhere. Shorter than usually though. But we'd need a whole chapter to say what happens from here. Hehe. I'm sorry I'm torturing them but it's to fun to resist. I know last chapter sucked so bigger thanks than ever to all those who reviewed it: TinyXchamp, soulful-sin, Dragon Blade, saikyo:the youkai priestess, Spice of Life, RainbowSerenity, LivEviL, and aeris9919. Till next chapter, Kudos!


	8. Chapter Seven

**_Hello_**

**Summary:**** Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.**

**Rating:**** PG-13 for mature themes and language.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.**

**_Chapter Seven_**

**_Soon I know I'll wake from this dream._**

Sam darted up the stairs to the fine arts classes.  She hadn't signed up for art.  She had asked for speech but it was full and Art I still had five openings so the counselor had put her in this.  She still wasn't that good but she was getting better.  She'd even signed up for Art II.  But now for this moment Sam was exceedingly glad she was in class.

She slipped into the room and darted to the shelving on the back wall that held all the students art supplies.  She knelt down to the shelf for sketching material at the bottom and grabbed a blue covered container.  She popped the lock tabs on the front and the back and dropped the top carelessly to the floor. 

She had finally stopped crying which was good.  She decided she didn't care.  If Danny didn't want her as a friend, than she didn't need him either.  It was as simple as that.  No one needed her.  Heck, no one was even going to miss her.  She reached into the box and pulled out one of the silver cylinders.  She put her thumb on the slide knob on the side and slid it up.  As she did the razor appeared at the top.

Sam smiled slightly to herself.  She laid it in her palm and turned her wrist so that it rolled back and forth.  She watched entranced as the light caught both sides of the blade as it turned.  She heard footsteps and grabbed the top of the box and put it back on.  She just finished snapping the locks as the teacher walked in. 

As she slid the box across the shelf to its proper spot, Mrs. Karrens noticed she was in there.  "Oh, Sam.  How are you."

Sam glanced over her shoulder.  "I'm fine."  She was amazed at how calm her voice came out.  But of course now that she had a plan everything slipped into perspective.  Suddenly, Sam could really believe that she was fine.  _Welcome to my world,_ the voice whispered.

"That's good."  She turned to her desk and then looked back at Sam.  "Did you need something, doll."

Sam stood and turned to face the women, retracting the razor blade as she spun.  "Uh, actually, yeah.  I was wondering if I could borrow this pencil sharpening knife.  It's just so hard to sharpen my charcoal pencil without breaking it."  She was lying through her teeth.  She waited for the guilt to come but, strangely, it didn't.  Sam pushed back her surprise.  She was sure that someone would get it back here for her.

Mrs. Karrens smiled sweetly at her.  "Tell ya what, Sam.  Just keep it.  Promise me that you'll practice over the summer."

"Sure."_  If everything goes right, you'll never have to keep that promise._  Sam suppressed the voices psychotic whisperings and waved as she darted out the door.

The hall was starting to fill up with students and so she had to weave her way through body's to get anywhere.  Sam pressed herself into the doorway of the storage room next to the art studio.  She opened the knife and looked at the little angled blade.  She held it in the shadows and brought the thumb of her left hand up to it.

She drew the blade across it quickly applying little pressure she drew it away and watched the white line turn red.  Her head started to buzz as she stared at the growing line.  She stared in a sick sort of joy as the line swelled to a bubble that burst and the blood leaked down her thumb towards her palm. 

She slowly made a fist and then uncurled it just as slowly.  She stared at the blood staining the top of her palm and the tips of her ring and middle fingers.  She smiled slowly.  This was perfect.  Sam now had her way out.  With that she slid the blade back in and darted down to her locker. 

She did the combination as fast as she could she was running out of time before the 8:17 bell.  She tucked the razor back into the top of the shelf in her locker.  The little voice laughed.  _You hid it as if your ashamed._  She pulled out a little bag out of her back pack in it was some Advil, feminine hygiene things and a couple of Band-aids.  She pulled one out and wrapped it tightly around her finger.  Slipping the bag back into her locker, she kicked the door shut.

Sam walked across the hall and to the drinking fountain.  She got some water in the palm of her right hand and swished her bloody fingers around in the water.  She held the button and put her palm into the stream of water and scrubbed it awkwardly with her fingers.  Sam stared intently, trying not to get the bandage wet.

Someone hissed through their teeth and put a hand on her shoulder.  Sam couldn't help almost jumping out of her skin.  "What happened?"  She knew that voice.

She turned putting on her best fake smile.  "I cut my thumb on the top of my locker door."

Tucker looked at her hand for a moment and then looked back at her face.  "That doesn't look pleasant."

Sam laughed, it sounded hollow to her but if Tucker caught it he wasn't acting like it.  Tucker grinned back at him.  "You look like you're in a better state of mind."

"Yeah."  If only you knew, Tuck, if only you knew, Sam thought wistfully.  And for once the voice laughed with her and not at her.

**_We are officially half way through the story.  Yeah!  And I have to say, I am so happy that people like this story.  When I posted it I honestly thought I was writing it just to get the idea out of my head.  So as always huge thanks to my reviewers:_** **_style, q.t, Spice of Life, TinyXchamp, saikyo:the youkai priestess, Brittany Miller, and RainbowSerenity.  It is a good day there is finally a new Danny Phantom Episode!  Danny in Therapy!  LOL._**


	9. Chapter Eight

**__**

Hello

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.

__

Chapter Eight

Don't try to fix me, I'm not broken.

Danny trudged up the steps to school. He'd blown it majorly this time. Sam probably wouldn't even look at him this time. He wandered threw the upperclassmen towards the freshmen locker bank. Sure, Sam had a right to be mad. He hadn't thought at all about what came out of his mouth. He was sure he'd half to pay for what he said.

He wandered over to his locker and did the combination that was almost habit by now. Tucker came up and leaned on the locker to the right of his. "Hey, Danny. Where's Sam?"

Danny pulled his locker open a little harder than necessary and let the door bang into the locker to the left of it. "I dunno."

Tucker stared at him, confusion written all over his face. "Did she not ride the bus today?"

"Oh, she rode the bus." Danny kneeled and yanked his Introduction to Grammar book out of his bag and threw it into the locker. "We both did." Danny sighed as he grabbed his American History book. "Okay, You know how she's been all moody the past couple days?"

"I'd noticed, yeah." Tucker crossed his arms.

"Well, she was still being all 'look-at-me-I'm-miss-gloom-and-doom' this morning. So, I asked her what was wrong and she said nothing and got made and went into this long winded thing that basically came down to that I trusted her more than she trusted me."

Tucker shot off the locker. "You what?" Tucker screamed at him, causing several people nearby to look at them strangely. "Please tell me you didn't actually say that and I'm hearing you wrong."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he stood. "I wish I could, Tuck," he said, making sure not to say it too loudly. "It wasn't that blunt but that's what Sam took out of it."

"It sounds like you said it, though." Tuck seemed pretty annoyed with him now. Danny didn't take it that hard though, he was annoyed with himself.

"Yeah, I didn't mean to but I said it."

"Jeez, Danny, how selfish can you be. Sam and I go through a lot for you."

Danny shut his locker and banged his head into it and just stood like that for a moment. "I know, believe me, Tuck. I don't know how I'd get through this without you guys. I don't have any clue why I said it." He turned his head and glanced at his friend. "Am I always this big of a jerk and just don't realize it?"

Tuck shook his head. "Naw, Sam's just what keeps you balanced. If she's messed up, you're messed up."

Danny blinked. "Never thought of it that way before. Does that bother you?"

He shrugged leaning on the locker again. "You guys have always been like that, since I met you in first grade. When one's upset the other's upset," he paused for a moment. "Maybe you guys are twins or something. I saw something about that on So Weird on Disney once."

Danny grinned at him, shoving away from his locker. "I don't think we're twins, Tucker."

"Never know." He shrugged, and Danny laughed at him. "I got to go put my stuff in my locker. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. See ya." Tucker waved at him and walked away. Tucker always made him feel better. Sam did too, but she was more of a listener where as Tucker's approach usually made you laugh about it. He bent down to grab his book bag when he heard the last thing he wanted to hear at the moment.

"Hey, Fenton, where's that girlfriend of your's?"

Nevermind, Danny thought, feeling's gone. He spun on Dash. "You know what, Dash? I'm really not in the mood for your crap this morning." Dash looked like he'd been slapped. He seemed to mentally shake himself and suddenly that sickeningly cocky grin was back on his face. Danny felt like being sick.

"Ah, poor Fenton's all moody when his girlfriend isn't here to stick up for him." Dash and his friends snickered. Danny had never wanted to hit some one this bad in his life.

"For claiming we're such losers, Dash, You sure have an unhealthy obsession with Sam." Part of Danny's brain screamed at him that Dash-baiting probably wasn't the smartest thing in the world to do. As usually Danny ignored it.

Dash grabbed the front of his shirt and shoved him hard into the locker. He tried not to grimace as the lock dug into his back. "Look, Fenton," he slammed him into the locker again. "I really couldn't care less about you and your ugly little girlfriend."

He shoved Danny towards his locker, this time letting go of him in the process. Danny slumped to the floor rubbing the back of his head that now hurt from being shoved into the locker. He glared daggers at Dash as he walked away. Danny heard snippets of the conversation but the one thing he did catch was 'nasty little wench.'

Something inside Danny snapped at that moment. Up until that point he had kept telling himself Sam wouldn't want me to hit him, reminding himself that he didn't know for sure that it was Dash. But that was it. Right now he was beyond caring if Dash was hurting Sam or not. Everything that had been slowly simmering for the past week just hit boiling point.

Danny didn't even remember jumping to his feat or what he yelled to get Dash's attention. What he did remember was Dash turning around with a look of pure fury on his face. In hindsight, Danny wondered what he had said but at the moment he couldn't have cared less. Dash came towards Danny and Danny did the unthinkable. Danny Fenton socked Dash Baxter hard in the jaw.

The rest of the fight was all a vague blur. The end was the only part he did remember clearly. Danny rolled to side finally breaking free of the headlock Dash had had him in. The both sat there just sneering at the other for a moment. Danny wiped some blood off his lip with the back of his hand. The thought crossed his mind that now would be the time to get up and walk away. He had held his own and he was happy enough with that.

Dash's voice cut through his thoughts, "Just because she won't put out is no reason to take it out on me, Fenton." Danny launched himself at the jerk without even thinking about it. Dash seemed to think that Danny had given up because he strangely didn't seem to expect that reaction out of Danny. Danny grabbed Dash by the neck wrapping his fingers around his windpipe and shoving the jock's head repeatedly into the ground. He remembered screaming "Take it back!" at Dash right before his eyes closed.

Danny felt someone yank on his shoulders. "Well, Mr. Fenton, we are in trouble now," Lancer hissed at him as he drug Danny unwillingly away.

**__**

Hey. I hope you liked it. I was a little disappointed with how this one turned out. But sigh. Maybe I'll fix it sometime probably not. As always glorious thanks to my awesome reviewers, who this time are: Chibi-Suiko, soulful-sin, audi katia, style, sugercraze49, TinyXchamp, saikyo:the youkai priestess, Brittany Miller, q.t, RainbowSerenity, Dragon Blade5, Spice of Life, and foodguy100. Love you all lots. :P


	10. Chapter Nine

****

Hello

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.

Chapter Nine

Hello.

Sam stared listlessly out the window, not even bothering that to pretend she was watching the movie. Danny hadn't shown up to history and now it was five minutes into lit and he still wasn't there. She had expected him to be at history and be rubbing the back of his neck and putting off apologizing. He hadn't been. Maybe he didn't see any need to apoligize. But that didn't sound like Danny and even so he wouldn't skip class for that.

Isn't it obvious, the voice sneered cruely. _You need him a whole lot more than he needs you._ That's not true, she thought desperately. The nagging doubt was still there though. Sam forced herself to stop thinking about it. It wasn't doing her any good to think about things that she couldn't change. It wouldn't matter for much longer anyway.

The strange thing was Sam didn't feel bitter towards anyone. There were no thoughts of 'they'll be sorry when I'm gone' or 'I'll make them sorry they every said that'. She wasn't going to do this to spite anyone. This was about her and her need to escape. Sam didn't have any power over the situation. Yet wonderfully she could still make it all go away.

For a moment she wondered what it would be like when she was gone. She couldn't see Danny and Tucker replacing her. Maybe a few years ago but not now. Danny's secret was to precious for them to risk other people finding out. She'd never thought of it as a burden, not really. A few times she had wished it had never happened. But even though none of them ever verbalized it she knew it ran through all there heads at some time or another.

She glanced up at the movie she was supposed to be watching. It Of Mice and Men, the newer version at that. It shouldn't have been so hard to focus on. _Why do you need to? You'll be dead before they finish it on Thursday._ Sam let the morbid thought echo around her head for a moment.

No one would know why she did it. She still didn't know if she wanted to live a note. They would all figure out it was a suicide. What was the point? It would just make it harder and Sam had never been a fan of good-byes. They never did anything but make everyone involved feel bad.

She looked down at the blank page that should be covered with notes over analyzing the movie and it's themes. She picked up the pen and twirled it in her fingers subconsciously. With a sad look taking presence over her blank one she readjusted her grip on the pen.

Putting the tip to the paper in painstakingly neat handwriting she wrote the one thing she never thought she'd write.

Dear Danny,

I needed to tell you that none of this is your fault and there is nothing you could have done to stop me. So don't sit around telling Tucker that there was. I'm not sorry I'm doing this I'm only sorry that I couldn't have been a better friend to you and Tuck. Lord knows I sucked at that too.

There are things that have happened that you can't understand now and I hope you never will. I'm never going to get better. I'm irreparably damaged. I'm broken and there is nothing that you or anyone else could do to fix that.

I'm writing this to you and not Tucker because you were always so much more sensative to things like this than Tucker was. I hope you both grow up to be the great men I've always known that both of you would be. I hope you're as happy as we always said we would all be. I hope you have a great wife and Christmas card perfect kids.

I know you're struggling, Danny. And I know that you're going to think that there is no way you can do this without me but you're wrong. Tucker's the one that handles the thermos anyway. I'm always just tagging along.

I wish you the best of luck in everything you do. If this is starting to sound like a graduation address, I apoligize. I just want you to know that I love you like a brother and that you were the best friend I ever could have asked for. I don't deserve you. I never deserved you or Tucker.

I won't take up any more of your time. I've already said far too much. One last thing. I'm sure my parents will try to hide that it was a suicide for images sake. Make sure that your family and Tuck's family know the truth. I owe you all that.

I'm sorry,

She paused before signing it. Somehow it seemed wrong to sign something this serious with Sam. She hadn't signed anything other than test and checks as Samantha since she had learned to write in cursive. And Samantha somehow had a false ring to it. It represented the person her parents had wanted her to become, not who she was.

She looked at the paper again. She flipped to the next page. She jotted down_ Sam Manson._ It didn't look right somehow. The little voice scoffed at how seriously she was taking this. She scribbled _Sam Emily Manson. _It looked better. She turned back to the note a little too quickly and wrote it a little too quickly much quicker than the rest of the letter. It looked sloppy compared to the neat flowery script.

She tore it out quickly. "Sam, would you please not do homework for other classes during this one." Sam looked up and saw the teacher and the other thirteen students staring at her. Tucker was looking at her a little weird. She glanced from him to Miss Sims.

"Sorry," she whispered as she put the paper down on her desk. She stared blankly at the TV screen for the last thirteen minutes of class. She let her thoughts wander wherever they wanted to take her. She silently sat daydreaming about what her funeral would be like, who would be there, who would speak.

Before she knew it the bell rang she quickly folded the note into thirds and wrote on it in block letters 'Danny'. That was it. She'd done her part no one expected to do anymore. She was done. Now she could go in peace. None of this would haunt her anymore.

Pulled out her assignment book and flipped to the front where at the beginning of the year all three of them had written down their combinations. She slowly turned the lock. Once to the number, past the next number and come back to it, once to the last number. She yanked and the door came open. Sam opened Danny's locker and laid the note gently across the grammar book that was thrown haphazardly in the bottom. She shut the door, kicking the bottom corner that never really closed. With that Sam turned and walked through the upperclassmen and out of the double doors of Casper High School for the last time.

****

I have good news and not-so-good news. The good news is this story has reached 100 reviews thanks to all you amazing readers. I think this deserves a yay-I-have-100-reviews party…but somehow I don't think my parents would go for that. The not so good news is I dunno If their will me any updates next week. I finally got my parents to say I could go to cornerstone, the Christian version of but that means that I have a week of no internet. That leaves me with three options: a) Have to get all the chapters written before I leave and have a friend post them while I'm gone b) go to the town library everyday or c) just not post for a week. I'm leaning towards A so lets hope that works. But enough about me let's talk about you! LoL My wonderful reviewers this chapter were: Chibi-Suiko, Sugaricing, Akiko, q.t a.k.a spice, SailorV-Princess, style, RainbowSerenity, Moody Maud, TinyXchamp, Weeble Wobble Chic, Spice of Life, and Dragon Blade5. Thanks for letting me know you like the fic. It's what keeps me writing.


	11. Chapter Ten

****

Hello

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.

Chapter Ten

I'm the lie living for you so you can hide.

Danny jumped out of the chair he was sitting in. "Suspended! But I didn't do anything that bad. And he did more damage to me than—"

Mr. Carter held up his hand and Danny stopped mid-sentence. "We have had a huge problem with students fighting this month and I'm sorry but you're going to have to be our example. Besides, Danny, it's only a day. And your not going to be missing any homework, being so late in the year."

"But it's going on my transcript," Danny pleaded, beyond the point of caring if he sounded like he was whining. He plopped back into his chair and felt like he was going to cry. His dad was going to kill him and if he didn't Jazz would.

The principle looked over at him sympathetically. "I'm glad you care about your transcript. Yet you still have to be disciplined. I'm sorry, Danny. My decision on this is final." Danny just stared at the front of the walnut desk in front of him. Danny reconsidered on his getting arrested being the worst day of his life. That was bad, but this was cataclysmic. Plus this one his family would know about.

"Go on back to class. Ask Miss Lindsey, the secretary, to give you a pass to third period. What do you have now."

"Double period Bio," he decided that it was worse.

"Ah with Mr. Lancer. I'll have the slip to you by the end of fourth hour. Now go ahead and go so I can call your parents." The feeling of intense dread got worse. It seemed to take an extraordinary amount of effort for him to get out of the chair.

He slipped out the office door and the elderly secretary regarded him critically. "I need a pass," Danny murmered.

She looked at him for a moment and then pulled out the pad of slips. "What class?" She wasn't being to pleasant about it, but in Danny's numb state he hardly noticed.

"Bio I."

She scribbled information in the blanks and checked some different boxes. Glancing at the time, she wrote it down, ripped out the pass, and sent Danny on his way.

It had never taken so long for him to walk to his locker before in his life. He walked slowly about a hundred yards of the way he kicked a skittle someone had dropped down the hallway. Each time taking a little while to find it then kick it again. He did it just so he had something other than the suspension to focus on.

He wondered briefly if anyone would notice if he didn't show up to class. Would Mr. Carter check with Lancer to make sure he had gone back to class? Maybe, he probably had a fifty fifty shot either way.

He wandered to his locker. Danny put his hand on the lock and noticed that someone had opened his locker. He always cleared it and then left it at Zero. He didn't know why he just always had. It was habit. He'd done it since sixth grade. But it was currently between twenty-five and thirty. No way he would have left it that far off.

The first name that popped into his head was Dash but the only people he could've gotten it out of was Sam or Tucker. An image of Dash cornering Sam and threatening to beat it out of her popped into his head. He fought back the wave of anger that's what had gotten him in this mess to begin with.

He yanked open his locker fully prepared for something to jump out at him or see all his stuff trashed. Danny brows knitted. Nothing was wrong. Maybe Sam or Tuck had just needed something and he was overreacting. He sighed inwardly. He was becoming paranoid. Of course when his dad found out, he would have a reason to be.

He knelt down and tried to dig out his bio book. Lancer was trying to cram one last chapter in before the end of the year. They were reviewing for the test first period today and taking it second. Which meant he had missed the first half of the review. Excellent. If it was any other class it wouldn't have been that big of a deal but Bio of all things.

He grabbed his book and yanked it out, suddenly he didn't want to miss anymore review than he had to. At least, he wasn't suspended the day of the test. He slammed the locker and leaping to his feat kicked the corners that never quite closed. Glancing down he noticed a piece of paper sticking slightly out of the door and he pulled at it gently wiggling it out of the door.

He saw his name in Sam's handwriting. He opened the cover of his Bio book and tucked it inside. Probably just wondering where he had been first and second. He'd have to read it later. For now he had a class to get to.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Danny dropped into his seat at lunch, totally discouraged. The test had been impossible he had guessed and left blank more than he had known. He totally bombed it. He glanced at the line. Tucker was only about half way through. He glanced down at his spaghetti. It looked like they had cut up what meat they hadn't used for cheeseburgers yesterday and put it in the sauce. All that Danny could do was think yum and try not to gag.

Sam hadn't been in Biology. She probably had gone home sick because of their fight. If he didn't have a furious father waiting for him at home he probably would have done the same. He sighed. He pulled the note out and tried to smooth out the jagged folds it had gotten when it had gotten caught in his locker door. He opened and started to read.

Dear Danny,

"Hey Danny. What's that?" He looked up and saw tucker dropping down into the seat across from him. He folded the note and tucked it back in his bio book, shoving it off to the side.

"Just a note from Sam." From their they discussed Danny's suspension, Sam's absence, Danny's suspension again, and finally the bio test. Danny looked over his shoulder at the clock. There were only seven minutes till the bell rang. "Tuck, I got to go put my Bio book in my locker. I'll see ya round, okay?"

"Sure," Tuck shrugged. Danny grabbed his tray and went over to dump it. He had to fight his way through the hall to get to his locker. He watched Paulina and all her friends giggle at something. Dash glowered at him. He couldn't help but notice that Dash's lip was swollen. He smirked to himself, quickly looking the other way. He opened his locker and took the letter out of the text book and dropped the book into the locker.

Danny closed his locker and leaned against it as he unfolded the letter. By the end of the first line Danny knew where this was going. He kept reading his eyes drawn across the lines almost unwillingly. Sam was serious. Danny clutched the letter in his hands. The feeling of fear that he'd felt when he'd been suspended only the palest reflection of what he felt now.

And with that Danny Fenton took off blindly, hoping that his guess of where she was would be right. Cause if he was wrong he didn't know if he could live with himself.

****

Another chapter completed. I think this is the longest one but I'm not sure. I liked this one. Only three chapters plus epilogue left. Hehe. I already wrote the Epilogue it's my promise to myself that I am going to get this done. Anyway enough about my boring authorship. Onto you reviewers. This time my wonderful Fans were: style, Moody Maud, Aeris9919, homicidaljunglecat, Spice of Life, TinyXchamp, Dragon Blade5, Weeble Wobble Chic, dannyphantomsgf, RainbowSerenity, Akiko, and q.t a.k.a spice.

P.S. I got the date wrong for Cornerstone, which by the way is the Christian version of Woodstock, Five straight days of Rock concerts. Yay! I think I might actually be able to finish this before I leave. Maybe…Maybe not. It'll be close. Just don't die on me, Spice of Life. LoL. Or anyone else for that matter.


	12. Chapter Eleven

****

Hello

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.

Chapter Eleven

Don't Cry.

So that's where Danny found himself. Sitting on the jungle gym of his old elementary school, watching helplessly as his best friend bled to death. He felt like he'd been slapped. He wished he had thought about what he would say at a moment like this but even in his worst nightmares he hadn't ever put himself in this situation.

Sam's life hung in the balance and at the moment he seemed to be the only one in the world who cared which way the scale would tip. But still words weren't coming to him. He stared there at Sam's wrist as if he had never seen blood before. It seemed to cling to her skin the thick liquid forming a strange.

"Isn't it great, Danny," Sam whispered. He glanced up at her face. She had a quietly excited look to her. Her eyes were still hollow though.

He couldn't think in the stupor he was in. "What's great?"

She smiled at him a cruel cold smile. "I'm going to be gone soon. I won't have to deal with any of this anymore." She gestured vaguely with her still bleeding arm. Danny did notice this time that the slit was parallel to her palm, not from her wrist towards her elbow. He knew enough to know that it was less harmful. Still not good, but it was a start.

"How can that be good, Sam?" Danny couldn't believe what he was hearing.

She stared at him as if the question was in a foreign language. She continued staring at him a little to intently. He had to force himself not to break eye contact. "Life sucks," she finally said, airily. "You know that." It came out as a half question, half statement.

Danny blinked. "Well, yeah. But it doesn't mean you have to--do this." He stopped himself from saying 'kill yourself'. He couldn't bring himself to say it at the moment.

Her eyes lost focus and she stared at something vaguely over his left shoulder. "It must be so easy for you. All you have to do is think about it and you die. You stop breathing, everything just melts away." She focused in on him again. Despite the flushed look to her checks her skin was taking on a more white pallor. "I'm not like you, Danny. I have to do this the hard way."

She reached up to touch his check with her blood-covered hand. It took everything in him not to flinch away. He knew that would only make things worse. He hand felt chilled and the half-dried blood clung to his face. "You could come with me, Danny. I know it's been hard on you. You don't need this anymore. Neither of us do."

He swallowed. "No, Sam. This is where I need to be. This is where you need to be." She swayed dangerously, her gaze slipping out of focus again. "Come on. Let's go down on the ground."

Sam shook her head violently, her dark hair swirling. But she continued on with her same train of thought. "I don't want to die alone. I think it's going to be lonely."

This showed how off kilter Sam was. Sam had always been big on being unique, an individual, doing things her way when she felt like doing them. He had never heard Sam say anything about being alone before in her life, even when her parents went through that rough patch.

Sam's breathing was getting more labored and Danny was getting more frightened. If he waited too much longer she was going to end up dying in his arms. Some job of saving her I'm doing, he thought bitterly. He stopped and breathed in and out, focusing on what by now was becoming a second nature thing.

Her head snapped up and her eyes went right back into focus when she saw the familiar light. Danny Phantom sat in front of her same concerned look was the only thing that hadn't really changed. "Come on, Sam. I'm gonna fly you down."

Sam looked like a trapped little rabbit. "No," she shook her head mutely. "No, no, no!" She reached for the bar behind her and left a bloody handprint. Her hand slipped and she slipped backwards. Danny instinctively reached out and grabbed her by the waist. He pulled her towards him. Something in Sam snapped and she screamed.

Danny almost dropped her out of surprise. "Shh! Sam, it's okay. It's me. I'm not going to hurt you."

She whirled her head around and locked eyes with him. Blind panic shown in her eyes and there was a sort of hidden terror in her face. "Let go of me," she hissed.

Danny didn't understand. "Sam, I'm just going to get us to the ground—"

Sam shoved against him with both hands. "No, I refuse to do this again. You're just like them. I hate you! Let go of me!"

He managed to pin her wrist together with one hand while supporting her weight with the other. "Just like who, Sam?"

She pulled at her wrist and wavered again. "Them. I don't know who they are," she sobbed. She was frantic now and he could tell her mind was getting foggy.

He needed to do something and now. If not he was going to lose her, no matter what he had done so far. He pulled her to him. She protested weekly but something must have given cause she lay her head down on his shoulder. "I'm dying, Danny," she whispered in his ear, almost as if she herself was just realizing this.

Danny took of towards the ground, those horrible words ringing in his ears. She was dying. As Danny lay her down he watched her eyelids flutter then close. He shook her shoulders gently. It was no use, she was out cold. He stared at her deathly pale face and had to wonder if there was any saving her now.

****

Yeah, I know I updated yesterday but I want to get this done. This was the hardest chapter to write. I think it came out okay, but you tell me. My reviewers for the last chapter were: q.t a.k.a spice, Akiko, Sloane Miette, The Fuzy Llama, Weeble Wobble Chic, Dragon Blade5, Sakura Scout, Aeris9919, Moody Maud, RainbowSerenity, dannyphantomsgf, Spice of Life, Piezo, and Coldplayer813. Oh my gosh. I just almost posted the Epilogue. That would not have been good. This is what I call bad. LoL. Hope you enjoy the chapter.


	13. Chapter Twelve

**__**

Hello

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.

__

Chapter Twelve

Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping.

Danny stared up at the sky and the cold rain stung him. He looked down and noticed let water droplets clinging to the tips of his bangs. Sam had been out for two hours. He had bandaged up her wrist using one of his socks and the razor blade he found on the ground. He had pocketed it. He didn't want her to find it.

And now they sat with her tucked under the little awning by the girls bathroom he sat next to her but outside the protection of the rain. Sam needed it more than he did. It wasn't much of a shelter but she was more out of the rain then he was.

He didn't want to risk moving her. Besides where would he take her? His parents were waiting for him to go home and receive the eminent lecture he was sure they'd come up with. He heard Sam whimper and twisted around and watched her shiver. She wasn't coming around yet but she was getting much closer.

Danny turned back around and ran a hand through his hair, pushing water droplets onto his already soaked shirt. He leaned heavily against the rough brick of the wall. How could he have not noticed something was wrong? This was his responsibility as a friend. Not just a friend, her best friend. He was not only a lousy super hero, he was a rotten friend.

Why Sam didn't tell him something was this wrong was beyond him. She knew she could tell him anything. He sighed heavily. He was dwelling again. But suddenly there didn't seem anything so wrong with that. Sam losing her life was worth dwelling over.

He could have jumped out of his skin when a hand reached out and latched onto his shoulder. He whirled around his face ending up about three inches from Sam's. There was a little more emotion in her eyes. Maybe everyone was right, that things always look better in the morning. "Hey, " she whispered softly sinking back to her heels to put some distance between them.

Danny managed a small smile. "Hi. How are you feeling?"

Sam rubbed her back, which was probably sore from lying on the concrete. "Been better," she stated simply.

They both sat there for a moment, neither one quite sure what to say. Sam finally broke the silence. "You might as well come on out of the rain. No sense in you getting sick because of me." She tucked her semi-dry hair behind her ears. Danny scooted over next to her and Sam pulled rested her forehead on her knee.

They both stared out into the rain for awhile, the mutual silence stifling. "I'm sorry," Sam finally whispered.

Danny gawked. "Sorry? For what?"

"For everything. For getting you involved. Making you skip school." He looked over at her. He was surprised to see the tears clinging to her eyelashes.

"Don't be," he said calmly, shrugging. "I'm glad you got me involved. I would be sorry if you hadn't. And as for school, you didn't make me skip. I chose to skip."

She still stared out into the rain, where the mud beneath the teeter-totters was quickly becoming standing water. "You're dad's going to kill me when he finds out."

"My dad's going to kill me before he ever has the chance to get anything out of me," he muttered.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you skipping was going to be such a problem."

Danny sighed and leaned back against the wall. "It isn't. I got suspended today."

Sam whirled around and gazed at him open-jawed. "You what!?"

He rested his forearms on his knees and hung his head. "I'm suspended tomorrow."

"Why'd you get suspended?" Sam turned to face him exposing her back to the rain, but she didn't appear to notice in the slightest. She appeared concerned. If Danny hadn't been so emotionally drained the irony might have struck him as amusing. Here was the girl that had been willing to throw away her life and all the promise it held concerned because he had to spend a day at home.

Danny stared her directly into her eyes. "Why'd you do this?" He picked up her hand and turned it over so her wrist was up. She looked down at the blood-soaked sock and dried blood that caked her arm and hand.

"Something happened to me. I just couldn't live with it anymore." She looked up at him and there eyes locked again.

Danny swallowed. "Sam, I've had vaguer responses from a magic eight ball," something flited across her face and she broke eye contact.

"I asked first. What did you do that got you suspended?" She still did not look up.

"I got in a fight with Dash," he was amazed at how casual that ended up sounding.

Sam's jaw literally dropped. "Please, tell me this is a joke."

"Nope," Danny closed his eyes and waited for the retort.

"You're an idiot, sometimes. You know that?" She sounded so defeated it stung. Danny physically cringed.

"Yeah, but I still want to know what made you do this to yourself," he was changing the subject. He knew it and she knew it.

Her reply was muttered and her head turned away from it. "Sam, I didn't hear you."

She turned around to face him. Sam looked like she was going to cry. "It was hard enough to say the first time," she said softly. Danny had never seen her look so vulnerable before.

He reached out and gently laid a hand on her knee. She tensed but didn't draw away. "You can tell me anything, Sam. You know that."

She nodded meekly, the tears starting to leak out now. "I was raped," she barely breathed the words, but Danny caught them none the less he went completely numb and had no idea what to say.

"God, oh God, Sam. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. When?" He knew it sounded stupid but in moments like this whatever came to mind was what you said.

"Last Friday night," she said softly, praying he wouldn't figure out when.

"Walking home from my house," he said finishing the unspoken thought. "That's why you never called. Oh man this is all my fault."

Sam's head jerked up. "How is any of this your fault?" She asked bitterly. "If it's anyone's fault it's mine. Don't you see? I'm useless to even stand up to worthless jerks like them. I don't even deserve to live any—"

"Stop it!" Danny almost screamed at her. "You do deserve to live! Stop beating yourself up like this!"

"Beating myself up?" she whispered in disbelief. She laughed cynically. "You don't even want to spend a second in this mental Hell I've spent the last week in. You have no idea how violating this feels. No matter how long it takes I don't think I'll ever feel clean again. But you don't have to deal with this. You never will. I don't know why I thought you would understand." She choked back a sob as she stared at him. She darted to her feet and ran out into the rain before Danny could stop her.

**__**

Only one more chapter after this. I know that this news is depressing, I'm sorry. I'm also sorry that this update is a day late. I'm such a disappointment. But on to my lovely reviewers: Piezo, The Fuzy Llama, RainbowSerenity, q.t a.k.a spice, Weeble Wobble Chic, Moody Maud, danny&sam, zoe, aeris9919, Sakura Scout, Akiko, Sloane Miette, ahhelga, Spice of Life, dannyphantomsgf, Dragon Blade5, and Coldplay813. Kudos to you all.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**__**

Hello

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.

__

Chapter Thirteen

Hello.

It took a few moments for Danny's befuddled brain to catch up with the rest of him. He picked himself up and darted off after Sam. He was started gaining when Sam fell, the blood loss obviously taking it's toll. She buried her head in her hands and started crying. Danny hit his knees next to her and held her close.

He rocked her back and forth as Sam kept whimpering about him not understanding. They were both beginning to become numb by the time she started to calm down. "You don't understand," she said as she leaned against him heavily.

He brushed her dripping bangs out of her eyes. "I know I don't, Sam. I'm sorry, but your right, I'll never understand. I'm a crummy listener and a lousy best friend."

She shook her head, little water droplets falling onto her wet shoulders. "I'm the one that should have told you. You asked me what was wrong God knows how many times." She shuddered.

"Maybe this is just part of growing up."

She pulled back to look at him. "I hope not."

He smiled. It wasn't his normal grin but it as enough to make her feel slightly better. "But it's alright. You're okay now. You're not going to do it again, right?" Sam went quiet and didn't respond. Panic started to build in Danny as he watched her retreat silently into herself. "Sam, you're scaring me. Say something."

"I can't promise that," she whispered back meekly, scaring Danny out of his wits.

Danny was desperate. He grabbed her forearms careful of her tender wrist. "But, but you said this was a mistake."

She shook her head, suddenly looking much younger than fourteen. She looked tiny and vulnerable. "I said dragging you into this was a mistake. There's a difference," she murmured.

"No," he snapped, making Sam look at him. "Getting me involved was not a mistake. It was probably the smartest thing you've done. I don't think you realize what would happen if you died. You're my best friend, Sam. My _best friend._ I love having you around. You make all this crap I have to go through worth it. You're why I put up with bad day after bad day after bad day. I know you think. I can live without you and maybe I can but, I don't want to."

She shook her head mutely. "You don't need me. You're going to be happy without me."

"What if I don't want to?"

Sam glared at him, but he could tell there wasn't much anger behind it. "Stop being stupid."

"I will if you do," he said shrugging. Sam looked like she was about to scream at him again. "Tell you what. You promise to tell me if you ever think about doing this again and I'll stop being stupid."

Sam almost smiled. "Will your part of the deal be a permanent change."

"That's it, every one make fun of the poor little ghost boy. You've ruined my self-esteem now." He put his hand against his forehead in a classic Shakespearean pose.

The edge of her lip curled up but the thing he noticed was that the haunted look was gone from her eye. "So do we have a deal."

"You just want me to let you know. You're not making me promise that I'm going to be perfect again or anything, right?"

"Nope, you just have to promise to talk to me."

She looked into his eyes for a moment before replying. "I can do that."

He squeezed her shoulders gently. "I know you can. It's probably past dinnertime and you haven't had lunch."

"I haven't eaten for almost three days."

Danny recoiled. "Why not?"

She shrugged. "I was planning on dying. Eating wasn't exactly high on the 'to do' list."

"It's amazing you survived." He shook his head, trying to dispel the thought. Water dripped onto his tee shirt making the red appear crimson. "Come on. Let's go feed you." He started to stand.

She rolled her eyes. "You make it sound like I'm a dog."

He laughed and slapped his knees "Here, Sammy, that's a good girl. Let's go get you some dry food." He laughed as he offered her a hand.

"I'm glad the thought of me as a pet amuses you." Danny hardly noticed what she was saying because she wore the first real smile head seen in over a week. He couldn't help but grin back. And somehow even though they were standing in the middle of the rain in a playground half way across town from either of their houses, It was all right. As long as Sam was alive and willing to glare at him, everything was okay in his book.

He grabbed her hand and she squeezed his hand, almost as if reassuring herself that this wasn't a dream. "You ready to go?" he asked quietly. She looked over back at the dome-shaped jungle gym for a few seconds before turning to look at him.

She nodded briefly. "Yay, let's give life anther try." Danny squeezed her hand again and she squeezed back and with that Danny led Sam away from the place where they had met. But somehow it didn't seem so heartwrenching as it should have been. They were headed out into a world that both of them knew could be heartless. But somehow it didn't look that bad.

**__**

There we have it the last chapter. I think I'm going to cry. I keep telling myself not to be sad I can start Book Two as soon as I get back. I've managed to plot out the first five books. Book Four's plot is my favorite. I want to write it NOW. Oh well, I need to learn to be mature. Now for my wonderful reviewers: SailorV-Princess, Weeble Wobble Chic, style, Spice of Life, Akiko, Harvest Goddess, Sloane Miette, saikyo:the youkai priestess, q.t a.k.a spice, Dragon Blade5, Dragonslayer527, The Fuzy Llama, Moody Maud, Lone Wolfdog, soulful-sin, TinyXchamp, RainbowSerenity, and last but certainly not least, dannyphantomsgf. Wow you guys are awesome! I totally could not have done this without your support. Thanx!


	15. Epilogue

****

Hello

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.

Epilogue

I'm still here all that's left of yesterday.

Danny fell backwards into the chair at his desk and glanced at the clock again. 2:47 blazed on the digital read out. Danny sighed and ran and hand through his hair. He couldn't go to sleep yet. He had to make sure that they blood came out of both their clothes or they would be toast. Not that he wouldn't be when his parents found out he and Sam had sneaked in last night.

He got up and moved to the open window. He stood there for a moment just staring at the clouds rolling in. The breeze blew his bangs back of his forehead as the coming rain reminded him of the night only two weeks ago where Sam had never called to tell him she'd gotten home.

He turned to stare at her, a sleep in his bed. He'd called her parents and gotten permission for her to stay the night. He was afraid that left alone with her thoughts that it would reverse everything he'd said to her. That she'd decide that she was right all along. That living wasn't for her.

He'd almost lost her. He shivered at the thought. He would have had to do this without her. And no matter how many times she assured him he could deep down he knew that she realized he couldn't.

He watched her lay there, wearing an old nightshirt of his which hung off her small frame. He'd never thought of Sam as defenseless but that's how she looked right now. Her breathing was slightly shallower than it should be. Danny decided he didn't care as long as she was still breathing. He stared at her left wrist the thin burgundy scab held together with medical butterflies. He crossed to the bed and knelt down next to her as the events of tonight came back to him.

They had gone to the Teen crisis center anonymously. They gave her some fake name that she was supposed to remember in case she needed to come back. Danny didn't pay attention. He was going to make sure that she had no reason to come back. After a Tetanus shot and a lengthy psychological evaluation Sam had been released on the condition she stay at Danny's.

Danny was sure he'd never forget any of tonight but the one part would stick out above all others. Danny had been able to sit with her through most of it. She held his hand so tight that he was almost sure it would bruise. But he really didn't care if it did. Sam was safe that's all that mattered. But towards the end of the question answer session the doctor had looked at him, "We're going to need your boyfriend to leave for this part."

Sam squeezed his hand harder than Danny had thought possible. But somehow she still managed her customary reply. "He's not my boyfriend," she said meekly, the usual fire gone. "He's my best friend."

The doctor offered her a smile. "You have one really great friend."

Sam turned to him and offered him the first real smile he had seen in a long time. It was a small one and the scared, haunted look in her eyes still remained but now it looked somewhat muted. "Yeah. He's one in a million."

He smiled back at her, not knowing what to say. But the thing that struck him was the tiny spark of hope that flashed in her amethyst eyes. She mouthed across the room at him 'I want to get better'. He gave her the most encouraging smile he could. But somehow something told him they weren't out of this yet.

**_The End_**

**_FIRST I AM SO SORRY I DIDN'T GET THIS POSTED BEFORE C-STONE. It's all my fault. I ran out of time getting ready last Wednesday. But Yay anyway! It's done. I hope you all liked it! It made writing it so much better. Tanx to all the people who have read this even those who didn't review. You made writing this totally worth it. My awesome reviewers for the last chapter were: audi katia, soulful-sin, Samster The Hamster, danny&sam, style, q.t a.k.a spice, autumngold, Sakura Scout, Id, CoLdPLaYeR813, RainbowSerenity, The Fuzy Llama, Dragon Blade5, JungleCat, Dragonslayer527, TinyXchamp, Weeble Wobble Chic, kiko, dannyphantomsgf, Moody Maud, and Spice of Life. Thanks for seeing this through all the way to the end with me._**


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